If you use information or ideas from others in writing a paper or thesis, these are considered sources. Sources are used in writing papers and theses, since
this involves building on existing academic knowledge,
and doing so helps to convince readers your argumentation is sound.
Watch the video on the benefits of four types of sources, as well as their differences and similarities.
handbook
monograph
text bundle
academic journal article
Watch the video
Types of sources
There are many more types of sources that you can use for information or ideas, and not just textual ones either:
newspaper articles
sound recordings
blogs
interviews
tweets
images
annual reports
web pages
graphs & charts
research data
films
tables
archive material
It is standard practice in academia to cite your sources. However, this is not simply convention: it is much more significant. If you do not cite your sources, or do so poorly, this is considered plagiarism, meaning you are wrongly creating the impression that you thought up something you didn't. This is considered a cardinal sin in academia, and could lead to you being expelled from your degree programme. This course will teach you how to avoid plagiarism.
In some academic disciplines, a distinction is drawn between primary and secondary sources.
In the case of History, such first-hand information, which has been provided by an eyewitness, is referred to as a primary (or direct) source. Anything else is a secondary source.
In Literary Studies, research objects (e.g. novels or poems) are referred to as primary sources, while any interpretations or analyses of these are called secondary sources.
Test yourself
Why should sources be cited?
Why would you record the sources you have used, not just for yourself but for your readers too?
Ponder this and then watch the next video.
Watch the video
Reasons listed
So, the reason it's important to cite sources when writing a paper or thesis is because it:
allows you to show that you understand what others have said on the topic;
allows you to distinguish between your own ideas and those of others;
makes it easier to identify and look up your source;
acknowledges and/or thanks your source
shows that you are building on prior knowledge
increases your credibility and integrity
avoids plagiarism
Basics of citing
You cannot simply cite a copyrighted source. The citation must form part of your argumentation and may not quote more than is necessary for this purpose.
Common knowledge
Whenever you are discussing facts and opinions that can be considered general knowledge in your field, it is not necessary to cite sources.
The following statements are examples of this:
"At the beginning of the 20th century, Dutch society was strongly divided into ideological or faith-based 'pillars’."
"During the past years, the role of social media has become very important in our discipline."
Statement like these do not need to have a source cited.
Test yourself
Citing, paraphrasing and summarising
You now know why it is important to cite sources when writing a paper or thesis. This applies to all academic publications, including articles and books.
But how do you do this?
There are three ways to refer to a source in your paper.
1. Quoting the source literally
2. Briefly summarising the source
3. Presenting the source in your own words (paraphrasing)
Watch the video
When writing a paper, you need to continually make the appropriate choice in citing sources.
Watch the following video to find out what is appropriate and why.
Back to the source
Always go back to the most original source. If you happen to read a news item on interesting findings of certain research, you cannot simply cite that item. You need to find the original study and use that as a source
Two steps
If you cite, paraphrase or summarise a source in your text, you must cite the source in two steps:
1. Give a brief description of the source in the text itself, or in a footnote or endnote, usually comprising a mention of the author(s), year of publication and page number(s).
2. Give the complete details of all the sources used in the reference list or bibliography. This provides readers with everything they need to look up a source.
Note that readers must also be able to find every reference (i.e. citation) made in the text in the reference list.
How to recognize a citation?
Watch the video
First, watch this video.
Test yourself
You now know what sources are, why it is important to cite them, and how to do so. You have also learned how to recognise the type of source being used in a citation.
The following section focuses on the practice of using sources when writing. You will learn how to create proper citations and will be introduced to the software that can aid in this.
Citation requirements
Just now, you practised recognising sources and the different types of sources. From here on, this course will be about creating citations.
Necessary elements
When referencing a book in a bibliography, it is, of course, logical that the following elements must be recorded in any case:
the name(s) of the author(s)
the title and perhaps the subtitle
the date of publication
In addition, it is convention to also record the publisher, and the year and place of publication. If the work has been translated, the translator also deserves mention, while if the volume forms part of a series, the series title should also be recorded.
You may consider other information noteworthy as well, such as where the author lives, but such information does not belong in a bibliography. Everything that does belong in it is dictated by bibliographical convention.
The information that should be stated includes
in the case of a
always, among other things
journal article
journal title, volume/year of publication, page numbers
digital journal article
DOI (digital object identifier)
book chapter
book authors or editors, page numbers
newspaper article
date
radio programme
radio station and date of transmission
film
director
unpublished letter
addressee
newly discovered print
place/site of discovery, technique
author's typescript
place/site of discovery
Be consistent
Not only are the elements that make up how a particular type of source should be cited dictated by rules and convention, so are the form, order and punctuation used, according to the citation (i.e. bibliographical) style in question. It is therefore not up to you which elements you set in boldface or underline, or whether you state the first name or only the initials of an author. Reference style books dictate how this is done.
A reference style is often specific to a certain academic discipline or academic journal. Among the styles often encountered are APA, Harvard, Chicago and MLA. If necessary, find out from your degree programme department whether a specific style is required when writing papers or theses.
Applying a certain style allows you to cite sources correctly and consistently.
Test yourself
Brackets and notes
However, the exact order and appearance of citation elements in a bibliography are not the only things dictated by the style. The way in which you cite in your text when using a
literal quotation
summary
paraphrase
or any other manner of referring to a source are also dictated by the style.
Some require you to place references in brackets at the end of a sentence, listing author(s) and page number(s), or author(s), year of publication and page number(s). Citation styles requiring this include APA and Harvard. If you like, you can also refer to multiple sources with regard to a single sentence. However, remember that the closing bracket should precede the sentence's full stop or a comma.
Other styles require you to create a footnote that gives the author(s), year of publication and page number(s). The footnotes appear in numerical order at the bottom of the page in question. This is the case, for instance, in the Chicago style (16th edition).
Some styles want you to create an endnote giving the source details and the exact part of the source being cited. The numbered footnotes are located at the very end of the text.
Should you refer to the same source on a number of occasions, you will repeatedly need to cite it between brackets or in a footnote or endnote for each reference. If you refer to another page in the same source as in the previous citation, some style will allow you to use ‘ibidem’, which is abbreviated as ‘ibid.’, followed by the page number being referred to.
The complete reference to a source you have cited (between brackets or in a footnote or endnote) should be included in the reference list (also known as bibliography or cited works), which will generally speaking be in alphabetical order of the authors’ names.
Each source only has to be mentioned once in a bibliography, see below:
References
Bender Sebring, Allensworth, Bryk, Easton & Luppescu (2006). The essential supports for school improvement. Chicago: Consortium on Chicago School Research.
Hargreaves & Fullan (2012). Professional capital. Transforming teaching in every school. Toronto: teachers College Press.
Kambel, E. (2013). Sirius Peer review Norway, 14 and 15 November 2013. Barcelona: Sirius.
Lomos, C., Hofman, R. & Bosker, R. J. (2011). Professional community and student achievement –a meta-‐analysis. School Effectiveness and School Improvement,22(2), 121-‐148.
Muijs, S. Harris, A. Chapman, C., Stoll, L. & Russ, J. (2004). Improving schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas – A review of research evidence. School effectiveness and school improvement: An international Journal of research, policy and practice, 15(2), 149-‐175.
Payne, C.M. (2008). So much reform, so little change. The persistence of failure in urban schools. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.
Severiens, S. & Tudjman, T. (2013). Professional capital in schools as regards education for migrant children. An exploration of policies in the Sirius network countries. Barcelona: Kit-book.
Severiens, S., Wolff, R. & Herpen, S. van (2014). Teaching for diversity. European Journal of Teacher Education. doi 10.1080/02619768.2013.845166.
Tudjman, T. (2012). Sirius Peer review Zagreb, 10 and 11 October 2012. Barcelona: Sirius.
Tudjman, T. (2013a). Equal educational opportunities policy in educational practice. Creating optimal learning and development chances for pupils with a migrant background in Antwerp 22 and 23 January 2013. A peer review report. Barcelona: Sirius.
Tudjman, T. (2013b) Policy makers meeting Rotterdam, 11th of December 2012. Policies in the Sirius countries on professional capacity building with a focus on improving the educational position of migrant children. Barcelona: Sirius.
More on styles: formatting your citation
Across the world, over 7,000 bibliographical styles are used. Many academic journals have their own reference style.
the following video notes and explains a few of the differences between various oft-used styles.
Watch the video
Detailed style rules
This course cannot describe styles in detail. Below are a few links to trustworthy sources of information on oft-used styles.
Style rules only need to be applied, not memorised, so always ensure that you have your style guide rules at the ready. You can also find these at the University Library and on the internet, or purchase a copy at a bookshop.
No one is expected to be able to create references in a specific style without having the guidelines to hand. However, it will be necessary to develop an eye for seeing whether a certain style is being or has been consistently applied.
Test yourself
Citation tools
Whether you are choosing a style or using a prescribed one, it is always important to be able to find the guidelines in question and to apply these consistently. How does this work in practice?
If you are doing this by hand, you need to type all of the references in the text, footnotes and endnotes, as well as the entire references in the bibliography, carefully applying all of the citation rules. This is a major chore, and you can easily overlook small errors.
We recommend automating this job by using a citation tool, or citation software. This will save you a lot of time You can choose between RefWorks, Zotero and Mendeley.
The following video explains how these tools work.
Watch the video
RefWorks, Zotero and Mendeley
RefWorks, Mendeley and Zotero are tools you can use to construct a personal database of all the sources you have used or will be using for your paper or thesis. All of the tools allow you to fill the database manually, either by copy and pasting or typing. However, it is much nicer to be able to immediately store any (potentially) useful material you come across in your literature search in your databank, without having to type or paste anything, by using CatalogusPlus, PsycINFO or Scopus, for example.
When writing your paper or thesis, you can add a reference to, for instance, a book or article from your personal database.
And finally, another benefit is that the tools will consistently format citations correctly in the style you have selected, right down to the footnotes, endnotes and bibliography.
However, even when using a citation tool, it remains imperative to check your work carefully and to make any corrections required.
Test yourself
Select a tool
Each tool has its benefits and drawbacks, so which one you select will depend on the working method you prefer, the type of computer you are using and which version of Word.
Will you be using a Mac computer with MacOS Mojave or Catalina, or perhaps a Mac with Word 2019? In that case, Zotero is to be preferred.
Are you looking to quickly collect search results from a catalogue or database? This is easiest to do in RefWorks. Zotero is also eminently suitable if you are primarily searching in CatalogusPlus, JSTOR, Web of Science and Scopus. Although you can also collect titles from other databases, this will require an extra step.
Have you already stored many PDF versions of articles and would you like to make notes in these? In that case, Mendeley and RefWorks are your best bet. Mendeley is to be preferred if you also want to share your notes with others.
Would you like to collaborate with others on a document? This is easiest to do in Mendeley or Zotero.
Are you using a word processing program other than Word?
GoogleDocs: select RefWorks or Zotero
Libre Office: select Mendeley or Zotero
Pages: none of the three programs can be used.
Getting to grips with the tools
The University Library website has all the information you need to get to work with the tool of your choice (click on its logo and the information will be displayed in a new window).
De Bibliotheek van de UvA biedt gratis hands-on cursussen waarin je oefent en routine opbouwt met de tools.
Closing words
This is the end of the course.
You now know that there are requirements in place regarding citation, and that as an academic (or prospective one), you will also be judged on these.
You are now knowledgeable concerning a number of citation styles and have considered which one you will be using in order to fit in with your academic community.
You have had a glimpse of howRefWorks, Mendeley and Zotero increase the ease of inserting citations in your text and consistently applying a certain style.
All that remains is to wish you every success in your subsequent steps in writing and publishing academic texts.
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